A Soul Too Young
by DaftWoman
Summary: Charlie Weasley is as excited as the next bloke when it comes to the new marriage law, but what happens when his new match turns his life upside down and teaches the former dragon tamer that not every creature can be tamed?
1. Chapter 1

**So I've had some writer's block on my other story, Soul Mated, and have decided to start this one in an attempt to unblock. Many have seemed interested in the match between Charlie and Gabrielle and it has so many possibilities that I couldn't help myself. Enjoy!**

* * *

Arriving in the flat above Weasley's Wizard Wheezes on Tuesday, September 2nd, Charlie Weasley hoped to never attend another engagement party for as long as he lived. He saw the missive from the Ministry of Magic and scowled at it, as if it was the parchment's fault he had had to endure yet another afternoon of congratulating people that, in all likelihood, never would have married in the first place. And possibly shouldn't. Though, in a way, it was the parchment's fault.

_Attention all unmarried witches and wizards between the ages of 17-35:_

_With the fall of Lord Voldemort our numbers have been greatly diminished and the future of the British wizarding world is at risk. It is the responsibility of the Ministry to take every action to remedy this problem, therefore we are enacting a marriage law._

_Upon receipt of this letter you have one week to find an acceptable match and marry within 9 months. If no engagement is filed with the Ministry in that time you must be subjected to a soul mate test. All those with viable soul mates* must wed within 9 months**. There will then be another week for those without viable soul mates to choose their own match and marry within 9 months. If one is not found you will fill out a questionnaire and be matched up by Ministry matchmakers and marry within 9 months._

_Those who do not comply with this new law will lose their jobs and may be subjected to time in Azkaban._

_~Kingsley Shaklebolt_

_*Viable soul mate meaning opposite gender, living, unwed, unrelated, and magical (so that all future children of this match have a higher chance of being magical). If you have a soul mate match in which one party is wed the married party has the option of divorcing the current spouse and meeting his or her soul mate, but will not be privy to the name of the soul mate until such decision is final._

_**If one's soul mate is underage you will be given the choice of waiting until your soul mate is of age or moving on as if you haven't a viable soul mate._

So there you have it. Charlie Weasley would be attending engagment parties for the next month. Then the weddings. He shuddered at the thought. He was avoiding thinking of the inevetability of his own engagment. As long as he didn't think about it he could pretend it wasn't happening. This was made more difficult by the small red parchment peaking its way out from under the Ministry missive that stated that he was to be at the Ministry of Magic office in one hour for his soul mate test appointment. He figured he might as well go early, maybe stop by and see his father.

His parents had been pressing for all of their children to get engaged before the choice was made for them, and that was fine. For the others. Percy was marrying the only girl he'd ever actually had a relationship with, Penelope Clearwater. George was marrying Angelina, both finding solace in each other. Ginny was marrying the boy who lived twice, the only boy she'd really ever had eyes for, and he couldn't imagine either of them happier. He suspected that they were even thankful to the new law, as Molly and Arthur Weasley would never have let their youngest get married so young in other circumstances. And Ron would certainly make Hermione Granger his after so many years of pussyfooting. But Charie had no one. After living in Romania for so many years and then the war, he hadn't really had a lot of time to meet anyone or settle down. And that had been fine with him.

He got to his father's new office in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement just after 2 PM. His father had been moved at the request of Kingsley after the war as the Ministry had to be completely restructured and few senior employees remained.

"Hello, Dad."

"Charlie! To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit on a work day?" Arthur asked.

"George decided that we would only need one person manning the shop for the next couple weeks since everyone in Wizarding Britain is a little busy with this new law and today is Verity's day. I didn't feel like moping around my flat before my soul mate test and was wondering if maybe my dear and loving father could help his extremely nervous son out?" Charlie inquired, giving his father his best puppy dog eyes.

"I invented that look to stay on your mother's good side, it won't work on me. But I'll help you out anyway because I am just as curious as you boys are to see who you'll end up with. At least Ginny, George, Percy, and Bill got to choose their matches. I'm worried about you and Ronald." Charlie couldn't remember his dad looking so old before.

"What do you mean, worried about Ronald? Last I checked Mum was beside herself with the excitement of giving ickle Ronniekins Grandma Prewitt's ring."

"Yes, well, it seems your youngest brother has decided to roll the dice, as it were," Arthur said, sadly.

"Hermione taught you that phrase, didn't she?" Charlie said, trying to lighten the mood. He knew his parents would be heartbroken at not truly being the young witch's family. Even though he'd never spent much time with her one on one, he was a little heartbroken himself. "Come on, let's go find out your newest daughter in law!"

"Wait right here and try to look pathetic," Arthur said, and walked to the desk outside his office. He said a few words to the older witch there, they laughed and she looked his way. Charlie gave his best bashful smile and the witch winked, handing his father a plastic bag.

"Here we are then. Since we have to do so many of these tests in so many places we've made them idiot proof. In this bag we have a vial of potion, a nametag and a strip of parchment. Put three drops of blood from your left ring finger into the vial with this," Arthur said, producing a daggar from his desk drawer.

Charlie pricked his finger and squeezed the requisite amount of blood into the vial. His father then capped the vial, gave it a couple shakes, and inserted the coiled strip of parchment. Removing the strip he suspended it in the air.

"Now, use a hair drying charm on it while I get some work done," Arthur commanded.

Charlie did as he was told, and used his wand to blast a jet of hot air at the wet parchment for the next few minutes. Plucking up his courage he looked at the parchment.

"Well. Bugger me sideways."

"What? Who is it? It cant be that-" Arthur said as he rose from his desk to look at his son's test. "Oh. Oh my. I'm going to have to look up the regulations on this one."


	2. Chapter 2

"Look up regulations? She's a thirteen year old girl and the resident of another country!" Charlie exclaimed.

"Fourteen," Arthur said absently from behind a large book of marriage law stipulations.

"What?"

"I said, she's fourteen. Her birthday was only a couple weeks ago. We were all invited to her party, don't you remember? Molly wasn't really in state to go to a child's birthday party at that point, but I think George and Percy went with Bill." Arthur said, still rooting through the book.

"I never received an invitation," Charlie said, firmly. "Before these engagement parties I didn't exactly have the most active social life, I would remember if I had received an invitation to a fourteen year old witch's birthday party."

"That's ridiculous, why would we all get invitations and you not? Ah, here we go. It seems that you are bound by this law as if you have an underage soul mate from Britain, but Miss Gabrielle is allowed to decline as we cannot reprimand her, however if she does decline then she will not be allowed in Britain until she is wed," paraphrased Arthur. "You may want to hand deliver her notification and explain it to her and her parents."

"Explain it to her parents? They're going to look at me like some sort of cradle robbing loon!" Charlie was quickly becoming exasperated.

"Calm down. You have a point. Why don't you pop round the Burrow and I will owl the Delacour's to come over for dinner? I'll get them an international portkey immediately. Help your mother with dinner preparations to keep you mind off things and we will all calmly discuss this. Worst case scenario, you are treated as if you haven't a soul mate and paired up that way and Fleur has to visit France a bit more." It was times like this that Charlie could see why his father was such a good match for his excitable an hot tempered mother.

"Yes, father. Thank you," Charlie mumbled as he made his way to the floos.

* * *

"Apolline, my love," called Francois Delacour.

"In the library," she called back.

"Dearest, we have a problem," Francois said.

"What is it?"

"We've been invited to dine this evening with Arthur, Molly, and Charlie Weasley," he said.

"And you've misplace the translation pendants?" Apolline asked, not seeing the problem. The Weasley's were always most gracious hosts and Molly could cook better than any house elf.

"When I say 'we' I mean you, myself, and Gabrielle have been invited to dine with Arthur, Molly, and Charlie Weasley," he said.

"Oh! Well that simply will not do. Owl them back and say that Gabby has fallen ill and that you and I would be happy to attend. We really should try to bring it up at dinner, Francois. We can't keep being rude to sweet Charlie as we've been. I hope he's not cross with us for neglecting to invite him to Gabby's birthday."

"Maman? Who did you neglect to invite to my birthday?" Gabrielle Delacour asked when she entered the library.

"Charlie Weasley, dear heart," her mother answered.

"You always make me stay away from Charlie! You never made Fleur stay away from anyone and she's just as much veela as I am!" Gabby was suddenly in a rage. Yes, it really was time to tell Charlie.

"Calm down, dear heart," Francois soothed. "Your mother and I are going to the Weasley's tonight and we will explain your mating instincts. Then, depending on his reaction, you may be allowed short, supervised visits."

"Really, papa? Thank you so much! I promise to be good! I just want to get to know him better!"

Francois laughed as his baby girl launched herself into his arms. This is what he got for being mated to a half veela.

* * *

"Well it's probably better this way," said Molly Weasley. "We can explain the situation to her parents and then either they, or we all, can sit down and explain it to her. That way we have less upset and drama at the same time."

"I suppose so, Mum," said Charile. "Mum? I don't even know her. And she's so young, we wouldn't be able to marry for years. Shit, I don't think I'd even feel okay kissing her for a couple years."

"Well, not with that mouth anyway," his mother chided.

"What I'm getting at is, if they're very against it, let's not fight too hard. It wouldn't be so bad being paired with someone else. I think that if we decide to go through with this it'll just be so hard on both of us," Charlie explained glumly.

"Oh, Charlie. You always were my sensitive boy. Don't write this off yet, you haven't even talked to her. She's your soul mate and, with this crazy law, she may be your best chance at being truly happy. We'll talk to her parents and you can send her an owl and we'll see how it goes. Now set the table, your father should be arriving with them in a few minutes."

* * *

Apolline Delacour was very nervous as she sat for dinner. She remembered when she was Gabrielle's age. Just coming into her veela senses, young and confused, driven half mad with love. Almost every fourteen year old girl is driven half mad with infatuation, but with veela it is much stronger. For one it isn't just infatuation, it is true love. More importantly, that feeling of being fourteen and knowing that if the boy you loved didn't want you back you'd die of heartbreak? Well there was little evidence that it would actually kill you, but it was sure to drive you mad and into a deep deep depression from whence you would never emerge. Luckily for her, Fancois' family understood the veela mating compulsion. As veela are rare in Britain, the chances that the Weasley's would understand without a very long explanation, and accept the facts were, in her opinion, very slim. Especially since Fleur hadn't shown any of the veela mating compulsions at all. They had hoped that Gabby would follow in her sister's path.

"Well we asked you here for a reason," said Arthur, pulling Apolline out of her thoughts. "The British Ministry has enacted a marriage law. Every unattached witch or wizard was subjected to a soul mate test-"

"So you know," said Francois simply.

"Wait, how do you know," interjected Charlie.

"Charlie, dear, there is something we should have told you," Apolline supplied. "As you know, my mother was a veela. Fleur and Gabrielle are one quarter veela and, as such, it is unpredictable what veela traits they will carry. Last year at Fleur and Bill's wedding, when you and Gabrielle saw each other for the first time since she hit puberty, it became apparent that Gabrielle has the veela mating compulsion. She started emitting pheromones very heavily and her father and I had to spend half the wedding with her under the imperious curse to keep her from attaching herself to your side until we could explain. It was lucky for us that she had not yet come fully into her veela traits. If the wedding had been mere weeks later then we wouldn't have been able to keep her away from you. Then with the war and its aftermath we couldn't find a proper time to tell you. Charlie, I am deeply sorry that we didn't invite you to her birthday party."

"So we needn't even discuss the consequences on either side, they'll simply marry!" gushed a very happy Molly.

"I fear that is a bit premature, Molly," said Francois. "This will be very hard on both of them, you haven't even asked Charlie how he feels."

Everyone at the table rounded on Charlie and Apolline couldn't feel much but pity for the boy. This was a very bitter potion for him to swallow on top of the marraige law.

"Well. I don't know. I don't know a lot about the veela mating compulsion, but what I do know makes my opinion kind of moot, doesn't it? If I show her any form of rejection couldn't it hurt her very deeply and irreperably?" ventured Charlie.

"Dear boy, I am so sorry. If you had been born in France you would have been much more prepared for this. Not to mention the age difference. She won't get the compulsion to consummate her mating with you until her seventeenth birthday, but now that she recognizes you, she has a very strong need to know you. I fear that if we'd left it for even a few more months she would have become violent and sought you out," Apolline said.

"Think about it, son," said Francois. "Sleep on it, more than once if you need to. Owl her if you'd like, and you have an open invitation to our home any time. She doesn't start school until the 15th. And know that if you'd like to talk to Apolline or myself about what this means for you and for her you need just to ask."


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you all for reading and an extra special thank you to KatWeasley-FredLoveerx and Stauneauge for their lovely reviews. Your encouragement means so much to me. Hope you all love the chapter!**

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Charlie tossed an turned that night. Mercifully he had the morning off. There really were no secrets in his family. While it wasn't yet common knowledge that Gabrielle had no choice in their match it was known that she was his soul mate and he had some things to think about. But did he really? _  
_

_What are the facts?_ he asked himself around two in the morning, when he was finally ready to think rationally about the situation. _I have to get married either to my soul mate, Gabby, or to a stranger._ _If I do not marry Gabby my sister in law won't be able to invite her little sister to her home until said fourteen year old sister is married. If I marry someone who isn't Gabby there is not telling if we would be compatible even as friends_. _If I reject Gabrielle Delacour I will be, very seriously, ruining her entire life.  
_

Once he'd realized that his decision was all but made for him, Charlie snuggled into his pillow and fell asleep while making plans to see Gabby in the morning.

* * *

Gabrielle awoke on Wednesday morning very unhappily, which was unusually for the vibrant witch. Her parents had had dinner with her soul mate, and literally the only man that could ever make her happy as long as she lived, the night before and, if their vague answers to her numerous questions were anything to go by, it hadn't gone well. From what she'd gathered, the older British wizard was ill prepared for the information that her veela mating instincts had chosen him. The only glimmer of hope she had was when her father had told her that, even though Charlie needed to think it through, he was almost certain it would work out. Her father never lied to her.

_He would have been prepared_, she thought bitterly, _if my perfect sister had gotten the same 'blessing of the veela bloodline.' _For that was how her mother always described it when explaining the veela heritage. _If it's such a 'blessing' then why were maman and papa so relieved when Fleur went through puberty and got nothing more than an unusally high number of suitors? Life is so unfair!  
_

After getting dressed she skulked downstairs in search of breakfast only to feel a pull in her chest in the direction of the main parlor.

"Gabrielle!," he mother called from the parlor before she'd gotten there. "You have a visitor!"

Entering the parlor her heart almost stopped as it swelled with joy. Charles Weasley. He was more beautiful than she remembered. Not terribly tall, but tall enough that she knew he'd always be taller than her, broader than his brothers, short auburn hair, blue grey eyes... in short? Gorgeous. Everything a man should be. Even in the horrible megenta robes he was wearing. She could see the evidence of his very physical work with dragons through the fabric and had to remind herself not to gawk. Though this lead to awkward shifting from foot to foot and avoiding looking at him altogether. _Why was this better than gawking?_

"Hi," he said with a nervousness that made her frown.

"Hello, Charlie. Have you had breakfast?" she asked, deciding it was even more awkward and embarrassing to be looking at the carpet in front of her feet than at the man to whom she was talking, and looking up.

"Not yet," he blushed. He was so beautiful.

"I was just going to see what the house elves had made if you'd like to join me?" she offered. "Then, maybe, we could talk? I could answer some questions? Though, if they're too technical you may be better off talking to maman."

"Breakfast would be great, thanks," he said, surely taking pity on her and stopping her mouth.

A larger than usual assortment of breakfast items had been laid out on the dining room table and the entire first floor of the manor was suspiciously vacant.

Once they'd awkwardly filled their plates and began to eat in silence Charlie finally said, "So we're getting married."

She nearly spit her orange juice at him.

"You've accepted me?" she asked through her coughing.

"Well, yeah. I mean even if it weren't for the law I couldn't very well let you suffer and with the law it's obvious choice."

"Law? What are you talking about? There's a law for veela mates?" she asked, confused.

"Oh. Erm. I take it your parents didn't tell you that bit," he said looking, if at all possible, more uncomfortable. "You see, since the war the wizarding population of Britain took a large hit, so the Ministry is basically forcing all single witches and wizards between the ages of 17 and 35 in Britain to marry. They gave a week to get engaged to whomever you pleased, now they're matching by soul mate, then they'll give another week to make your own choice, then they'll match by questionnaire," he explained.

"So you're not really choosing me. You're stuck with me. Well at least I won't commit suicide or die of depression," she said melodramatically. Of course he hadn't really chosen her!

"Gabby, I didn't mean it like that. Your parents purposefully kept me away from you. I don't know you," he said firmly. "But I'd like to. Know you I mean."

"Yeah. Whatever," she said into her chocolate croissant.

"Gabrielle Delacour, I don't have to marry you. I don't have to do this. I could have told the Minisrty that I wished to pass up my soul mate and be marrying someone else in a fortnight. I did choose you. So quit pouting into your breakfast and tell me what this means for our immediate future," Charlie scolded.

"Sorry," she mumbled. "Well, I'll need to see you every so often to feed the connection between us or it'll ache now that I've properly recognized you as my mate. Nothing too big, just spend some time together. Apparently the veela does this so young to ensure that the mate is found and that the veela is molded, I guess. If you influence me starting at fourteen then it'll influence who I'll be at seventeen and I'll be a better match for my mate."

"How is that going to work when you go back to school?" he asked.

"I don't know. I never thought of that. Maybe it will be enough if we just send letters? It's different since I have so little veela in me, but we'll see."

They finished their breakfast making trivial small talk, both worrying about the logistics of thier very unconventional... relationship... or whatever.

* * *

"Well after I scolded her it went well," explained Charlie to George at the counter of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes after they'd finished the store inventory. "She really is quite pretty for a fourteen year old girl. And she seems smart and passionate. She's just so.. such a... well such a fourteen year old girl. Insecure, volatile, shallow, always blushing and giggling and rambling on around me. It's making getting to know her very difficult."

"I think you're thinking about this all wrong, brother dear," said George. "It's like when you're on the dragon reserve, you don't think of the dragon's behavior in human terms, you think of it in dragon terms and work around that. Think of her as a rare, beautiful, fire breathing beast."

"That might work. I'm having dinner with her family on Friday, I'll try putting myself in her shoes then."

"This is the right one!" exclaimed a voice as the bell on the shop door rang. "George! Charlie! I've brought firewhiskey! The shop next door was not your shop. Close up early and help me drink!"

"...Bill? Is everything alright? What are you doing here?" Charlie was worried, his big brother didn't sound right.

"I'm divorced! And right here is an envelope telling me who I'm to spend the rest of my life with," Bill slurred, producing the envelope. "If I refuse to open it then I'll never know who it is and cannot marry her."

"Can't argue with logic like that, can we?" said George, wearily eying their rumpled older brother.

"You know what? I'm glad Fleur divorced me! I shouldn't have married her in the first place! Bloody war making everyone think they were going to die alone," Bill spat, taking a very deep draw from a bottle of very bad firewhiskey.

It seemed that it was going to be another long night for Charlie Weasley.


End file.
